U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has extended his order to Consumers Energy to continue to operate its 63-year old coal-burning electric power plant, the J.H. Campbell facility, for another 90 days.
Wright's first order in May came a week before the utility had planned to permanently decommission the facility, the last coal-burning power plant in its fleet. State utility regulators had approved the closure, and Consumers Energy had already secured a natural gas facility to replace the electricity from Campbell.
Wright said he had determined "an emergency exists in portions of the Midwest region of the United States due to a shortage of electric energy, a shortage of facilities for the generation of electricity, and other causes."
The Michigan Public Service Commission disagreed with the original order, and in a press release issued today, said annual capacity demonstrations of all of Michigan's electricity providers show that each has sufficient capacity to meet electricity customer needs four years into the future.
For its part, Consumers Energy said it is evaluating the order and expects to continue operating the plant as required by DOE.
“We are also pleased that FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) approved our request to recover costs associated with plant operations and allocate those costs across MISO’s North and Central regions consistent with the DOE order.”
The FERC approval means Consumers Energy's costs of running the plant will be added as a surcharge to customers' bills in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, most of Indiana, and portions of four other states.
Environmental groups excoriated Wright's decision. Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said the order makes no economic sense and is unlawful.
“Midwestern families and businesses should not be forced by the U.S. Department of Energy to pay millions of dollars in higher electricity bills for an old coal plant that is demonstrably not needed for reliability and much more expensive than sensible alternatives," he said.
Michael Lenoff, Earthjustice Senior Attorney, agreed that Wright had provided no evidence of an imminent energy emergency.
"Chris Wright is not a Soviet-era central planner, but his new order suggests he would fit right in," Lenoff said. "The order purports to override the considered judgment and careful work of many federal, state, and regional bodies who actually have authority to keep the lights on. In their place, Secretary Wright blunders in."
Justin Carpenter is Director of Policy at the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council, a group that supports the transition to clean energy.
"The data shows that living in the immediate area of a coal plant tends to lead to increased heart disease, asthma and respiratory illness," Carpenter said. "It is beyond me that the administration would make a decision based entirely on their own personal politics that both costs Michiganders a lot of money and puts their health at risk."
"I find it very disappointing," he added.
Editor's note: Consumers Energy is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
